On Monday, she answered questions about mobilizing the international community in response to post-disaster health issues. She said that, due to budget and human resources limitations, the Ministry of Health advised the Government to call on international organizations to help with health issues after natural disasters.

Every year the Ministry of Health works with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to organize regional emergency response drills with the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance, according to Minister Lan.

“Pursuant to the ASEAN Secretariat’s initiative, the Ministry of Health is coordinating with member countries to develop a standard procedure for receiving regional medical emergency response teams in the event of a natural disaster that exceeds the response capacity of any country,” said Minister Lan.

Under the plan, Lan said upon receiving notification, ASEAN members will dispatch emergency medical support teams to affected countries.

“Our Ministry is outlining guidelines to establish a Vietnamese emergency medical support team to respond to increasingly complicated natural disasters,” said the head of the health sector.

As chair of the ASEAN Committee on Disaster Management last year, Vietnam successfully organized the 11th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Disaster Management and related meetings.

It has been demonstrating a spirit of "proactiveness, positivity, and responsibility" in ASEAN cooperation, in which disaster management is an important part of the Socio-Cultural Community pillar of ASEAN cooperation, the health minister said.